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Beaverhead
River
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High
on Monida Pass on the Montana/Idaho boundary, springs and melting snow form
rivulets which combine into the tributaries of the Red Rock River. The Red
Rock, and its major water contributors like Big Sheep Creek provide excellent
fishing on premier Class II waters bearing resemblance to the intimate holes
and riffles of the Ruby. The Red Rock empties 20 miles above Dillon into the
6,000 acre Clark Canyon Reservoir, itself a great rainbow fishery, on which
a float tuber can have many a fine morning and afternoon casting to rising
fish up to 5 pounds.
At
Clark Canyon Dam the outfall of the Reservoir turns into the famous Beaverhead
River. The Beaverhead supports more biomass pounds of living organism, especially
trout, per acre foot of water than virtually any stream in Montana, or for
that matter the United States. Mornings and afternoons during the open season
(third Saturday in May through December 1) can provide hour upon hour of sight
fishing with #18 and #20 mayflies to 20 plus inch rising fish in what is some
of the finest technical dry fly fishing in the lower 48. Tiny bead head nymphs
and, under proper conditions, big black and ugly streamers ripped across the
current from brushy pockets are likewise steady producers.
The tailwater of the Beaverhead is generally agreed to end around
Barretts access point, approximately 14 miles below the Dam. The public accesses
in the tailwater are usually crowded due to general public and guides from
all over the r
egion.
Special regulations in this section include a strict slot limit of 3 fish,
only one can be over 18" and only one can be a rainbow. From Barretts down
to Beaverhead Rock (the very same Beaverhead Rock that Sacajawea searched
for in hopes of finding her long lost tribe during the Lewis and Clark expedition),
the river slows its rush and assumes the curving, deep channel, pool riffle
classic an ancient streambed. This stretch, known as the Middle Beaverhead
is not easily accessed. It can be floated with relative ease, but floats are
long and a full day’s outing should be planned with careful knowledge of put
in and take out points. The middle Beaverhead is home to big brown trout,
estimated at approximately 1,200 fish per mile.
Below Point of Rock
s
to its confluence with the Ruby and Big Hole, and the origin of the Jefferson
River in Twin Bridges, approximately 20 miles downstream, the Beaverhead assumes
an incredibly serpentine configuration. Oxbows which are 3/4 of a mile long
often have necks only 50 feet wide. You can fish all day around a productive
oxbow and when stepping out of the water be a stone’s throw away from where
you waded in in the morning. Late summer and fall months prove productive
when river levels drop, and the occasional cloudiness seen in this stretch
of the river during irrigation season in mid summer dissipates. Baetis and
mayfly imitations, and streamers fished deep and fast for big spawning browns
coming up from the Jefferson in September and October, can provide a world
of fun and several broken leaders every day.
The Beaverhead is often and primarily floated, but some of the
best fishing to be had is by wading. The river is not particularly difficult
to w
ade,
although care should be taken not to underestimate current velocity, or the
depth of holes which pock mark various pools and side cut banks. It is difficult,
however, to adequately wade fish this river without private access to the
stream bank. Like the Ruby, one simply cannot physically wade too far up or
down this incredible fishery without stepping on grassy dryland. Country Roads
and Ranches of the West are proud to manage a ranch containing three prime
miles of the Beaverhead tailwater approximately 5 miles below the Dam, and
another ranch on the Lower Beaverhead just above Twin Bridges sporting frontage
on the lower portion of this famous river.
Country Roads LLC |
